3 Spiders in Need of IDs

[Spepper]

So today I found three new (to me) types of spiders and was curious what they were. Here we go. Sorry the pictures are a little dark. :/

This spider was found stretched out like it was trying to be a stick on the "ceiling" of my porch, but in the past I've found these suspended in stiff grass above a large puddle nearby to where this one was found.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/114543195@N07/13177599064/http://www.flickr.com/people/114543195@N07/

There were thousands of these running around at the edge of a river I visited today. They move like lightening and loved to spread-eagle themselves on large round river rocks to blend in.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/114543195@N07/13177368165/http://www.flickr.com/people/114543195@N07/

Okay, I know this one is a crab spider, but what kind? I think it looks really cool. It was found on my porch "ceiling" as well. (The funny thing is, my house is blue so this girl didn't blend in too well. LOL)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/114543195@N07/13177406365/http://www.flickr.com/people/114543195@N07/

 

[awiec]

Well the first one is probably tetragnatha elongata , which are long jawed orbweavers, and that stick behavior is very common as they hang out by rivers and hide in reeds/grasses next to their web. The second one may be a dolomedes(fishing spider)i of some sort. The last one might be a celler crab spider, but it could be a ground crab spider of some sort. If I had my north american spider book I may be able to tell exact species.

 

[Spepper]

Thank you! I looked up the species of long-jawed orbweavers you mentioned, but I don't think it had the "long jaws"... but then again I haven't looked super super close at him. Everything else in body shape is very similar though.

I was wondering if it was a fishing spider being it was found by water, but I know next to nothing about them so I wasn't sure. I gave it a stick to climb on and it hasn't climbed it; she just hangs out on the very bottom of it. If it is a fishing spider, how would I go about caring for it? I think it looks very interesting, and keeping spiders with very different lifestyles fuels the insatiable curiosity I have about them.

If that's a ground or cellar crab spider she didn't get the note because she was way off the ground. LOL I think I may keep her for a little while to observe her just because she's about the coolest looking (and one of the biggest) crab spiders I've seen. Would keeping her similar to jumping spiders be suitable? And no, I don't base my decisions purely off of looks but a neat-looking spider is always a plus. I love the way her legs start out light colored and fade to darker brown.

 

[The Snark]

Thank you! I looked up the species of long-jawed orbweavers you mentioned, but I don't think it had the "long jaws"... but then again I haven't looked super super close at him. Everything else in body shape is very similar though.

Long jawed is something of a misnomer as they can be just slightly longer, or sometimes even the same size, as several other species. It certainly looks like one. One of the elongated mandibles appears to be visible in the pic.

 

[Spepper]

Thanks for clarifying, Snark. I believe what you're referring to was one of his pedipalps, but I will take a closer look in the morning before I release him. I may try and take a better pic to two of him then as well.

 

[Smokehound714]

first one is tetragnatha, second is either pardosa, or arctosa (wolf spider), third i dunno.. Bassaniana sp?

 

[awiec]

Thank you! I looked up the species of long-jawed orbweavers you mentioned, but I don't think it had the "long jaws"... but then again I haven't looked super super close at him. Everything else in body shape is very similar though.

I was wondering if it was a fishing spider being it was found by water, but I know next to nothing about them so I wasn't sure. I gave it a stick to climb on and it hasn't climbed it; she just hangs out on the very bottom of it. If it is a fishing spider, how would I go about caring for it? I think it looks very interesting, and keeping spiders with very different lifestyles fuels the insatiable curiosity I have about them.

If that's a ground or cellar crab spider she didn't get the note because she was way off the ground. LOL I think I may keep her for a little while to observe her just because she's about the coolest looking (and one of the biggest) crab spiders I've seen. Would keeping her similar to jumping spiders be suitable? And no, I don't base my decisions purely off of looks but a neat-looking spider is always a plus. I love the way her legs start out light colored and fade to darker brown.

Probably just give the crab spider a fake flower to hide on to see if it takes to it, they like something they can blend in on and can change color within a day. The behavior of the second one reminds me of fishing spiders which belong to Pisauridae a sub family of wolf spiders; so technically it is a wolf spider. Fishing spiders can walk and will sometimes dive underwater; but you can just keep it in a little plastic container with maybe a little bit of bark for them to hang out on. I have two P.mira and one needs no bark and the other likes to sit on it. One way to tell if it is from Pisauridae is the eye pattern, the fishing spiders usually have 2 "even" rows of eyes and wolf spiders not from that family will have 3 rows of eyes, there is pictures of the internet that will show what I mean.

 

[Spepper]

Thanks everyone, you've been most helpful! I released the orbweaver today, and prepared suitable homes for the other two.

 

[Spepper]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/114543195@N07/13393175215/http://www.flickr.com/people/114543195@N07/

What's this little guy? He's pretty tiny, as you can see how big the napkin print is next to him. He appears to be a mature male, and can climb all over plastic surfaces; they don't stop him. What you can't see so well in the picture is that his back (not abdomen) is a silvery grey that's striking in person.

 

[Smokehound714]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/114543195@N07/13393175215/http://www.flickr.com/people/114543195@N07/

What's this little guy? He's pretty tiny, as you can see how big the napkin print is next to him. He appears to be a mature male, and can climb all over plastic surfaces; they don't stop him. What you can't see so well in the picture is that his back (not abdomen) is a silvery grey that's striking in person.

Sergiolus. possibly S. columbianus

 

[Spepper]

Thanks, after looking up S. columbianus I believe it does look a lot like him. I posted here because I had no idea where to start trying to find an ID on him since he doesn't look like any spiders I know.

 

[awiec]

Thanks, after looking up S. columbianus I believe it does look a lot like him. I posted here because I had no idea where to start trying to find an ID on him since he doesn't look like any spiders I know.

This guy belongs to the Gnaphosidae family aka ground spiders. The easiest way to pick them out is the barrel shaped spinnerets, which I was able to see in the picture. They are part of the RTA clade which include wolfspiders,jumping spiders, club sac spiders and all have the characteristic of having 2 claws that allow them to climb most surfaces with ease, something like a house spider in an empty bath tub will have a hard time, but not these guys.

 

[Smokehound714]

This guy belongs to the Gnaphosidae family aka ground spiders. The easiest way to pick them out is the barrel shaped spinnerets, which I was able to see in the picture. They are part of the RTA clade which include wolfspiders,jumping spiders, club sac spiders and all have the characteristic of having 2 claws that allow them to climb most surfaces with ease, something like a house spider in an empty bath tub will have a hard time, but not these guys.

Gnaphosidae is not related to the lycosoidea, nor is it related to Salticidae. Salticids arent good climbers because of their claws. They have minute setae on their foot-pads allowing them to grip microscopic cracks and abrasions, just like any other spider that has little trouble climbing smooth surfaces.

Wolf spiders are more closely related to nursery-web spiders, and lynx-spiders than gnaphosidae. You're probably right about clubionids being related to them, though. The closest relatives to gnaphosidae in the USA are most likely corinnidea, the ground-sac spiders, which share similar behavior.

 

[awiec]

Gnaphosidae is not related to the lycosoidea, nor is it related to Salticidae. Salticids arent good climbers because of their claws. They have minute setae on their foot-pads allowing them to grip microscopic cracks and abrasions, just like any other spider that has little trouble climbing smooth surfaces.

Wolf spiders are more closely related to nursery-web spiders, and lynx-spiders than gnaphosidae. You're probably right about clubionids being related to them, though. The closest relatives to gnaphosidae in the USA are most likely corinnidea, the ground-sac spiders, which share similar behavior.

The RTA clade is just a name for the spider families with a special embolus, there are a wide variety of families included and no one is sure why such different families have them, but most of the families of the RTA clade are non web hunting spiders and have 2 claws that allow them to climb. I was just listing the general characteristics so the OP has an idea what he has.